the olsens go african

now before you start thinking i'm going all pop culture all over your arse, i don't got some inside story about the famous full house twins on a mission trip! when i say "the olsens," i'm referring to me and my friend who says she's my white "twin." as you know since i nickname all my peepers, i obviously started calling her mk. i let her pick which one she wanted to be, so that's why she calls me ash. and when i say we went african, i mean we went to a west african restaurant. sav's grill, downtown lexington.

i had been wanting to try it for a while, and i had physical therapy today, so when i asked if she wanted to grab a quick bite before pt since she worked nearby, she mentioned sav's. mary kate's birthday was on sunday, so it was time to celebrate with food, of course, as that is the only way me and my crew celebrate. and like most twins, we had perfect timing. we ended up walking up the corner at the same time. eerie, i know.

after we gushed and hugged over our detailed-similar coats {they both had ruffles. yes, more scary likeness}, we hustled our bustles over to the restaurant. we were greeted by the guy that i saw on the web site. sav himself! he is just as friendly as his cheery face appears on his "about" page. i already knew what i was gonna try, as i plotted my game plan before heading there.

fried plantains
{photo by silly blahgs}

when i see plantains on a menu, it's a given. they are getting in my belly one way or another, especially when their first name is fried, as fried is our friend {say it, fried is my friend. better?}. these were different than i've tried as they have a tomato-onion topping. wasn't bad, but i was hoping for something sweeter. remember, i have a massive sweet tooth.

goat on fufu
{photo by silly blahgs}

okay, for the main course--no, the plantains weren't my main course...appetizer maybe--i chose, primarily 'cuz i liked saying it, "goat on fufu." i've never tried goat before, but i am not too fearful in the trying new stuff field. growing up in a filipino household and having friends from malaysia and korea, i'm used to international food. i love taste testing!

the peanut goat bowl included local goat meat with tender chunky potatoes in a natural peanut-based seasoned veggie broth. i got the small, which was plenty enough, and i also subbed the white rice for fufu. not only is it fun to say, 'cuz it sounds like frou-frou, it is a plantain{and there it is}-based dumpling {c'mon, who's gonna pass up a dumpling?}. the menu said it is "like creamy mashed potatoes." i was pretty pleased with my dish. although a little soupy. but i just took that spoon and slurped away!

leaf and beef on couscous
{photo by silly blahgs}

mary kate, however, not so over the moon. she ordered the leaf and beef bowl. again, fun to say. this dish was sirloin tips with fresh spinach-based sauce in a tomato-seasoned broth with palm oil. she subbed the rice for couscous. she let me take a bitesy-bite, and we both thought it had a dinty-moore aura about it. and the spinach didn't taste fresh, but tasted like it came from a can. not saying it wasn't fresh, but i suppose if it was in the broth and palm oil, maybe that be wassup? it needed a little kick. perhaps that's why sav offered us some hot sauce before we sat down.

pistachio ice cream
{photo by silly blahgs}

when we were placing our order, i mentioned it was her birthday the other day. when good ol' sav came by to check on how we enjoyed our food, he asked her if she wanted some ice cream since it was her birthday. they had about eight flavors, and it was locally made. sister friend chose pistachio. bullseye. there's the sweeter i was looking for earlier.

we both agreed that we would go back again and try something else. next time, hen perhaps. i wasn't surprised that we were both thinking the same thing. us being the olsen's after all.

what's even more eerie?

i actually say a lot of these same things. often.